I'LL LET YOU KNOW!!!!!

A really cool thing is going on right now…..

Yesterday I was hanging out on Face Book when a profile popped up that caught my attention.  The name on the profile was familiar from a time before 1957.

In August 1957 my family moved from Lebanon, Ohio to Pinellas Park, Florida.  I was 9 at the time.  We moved because Dad had some health issues that the doc said would be helped if he lived somewhere warm.  So, he sold his appliance store, sold our house and off we went to Florida.  

 

Me, maybe 3 years old 

Prior to that move we had lived on North Broadway in Lebanon where we had a very nice little neighborhood.  There were several kids who all were with a year or two of my age.  So, there was Larry and his two sisters, Bev and Cindy.  Ann who was the daughter of the local bank’s president and she had a sister, but I don’t remember her name.  And there was Marilyn who lived about four houses down the block.

We all played together as much as time would allow.  There was a creek that ran below our houses and where we tended to hang out.  I remember Mom telling me over and over to stay away from the creek, but back in those days, if the parents weren’t right there, it was a hard time to enforce rules.  So, we played in the creek a lot.  

 

There were times when we got in trouble.  I remember being kind of the ring leader and if there was an issue with the parents, I was usually the first point of contact.  Like for instance the time someone spread tar on the floor of Ann’s basement.  I don’t know why, but I was punished for that, even though I knew nothing about it….really!!

Mrs. Lincoln lived next door to my house and she had peonies in her yard.  One year someone in the group picked all the flowers off her bushes just as they bloomed.  Turned out that she was a widow and always took those flowers to her husband’s grave on Memorial Day.  Yep, that was a big deal and I think Larry and I took the fall for that one.

 .  

 Kindergarten Sue

We played hide and seek a lot.  Dressed up in different costumes and walked up and down the sidewalk getting honked at.  There was a Dairy Queen just a few blocks down from our houses and we went there a lot.

Anyway, to get to the point of this post, the profile that popped up was for a ‘Marilyn’ with the same last name as my former friend.  The profile said she was from Lebanon and still lived in Lebanon.  The profile picture looked nothing like the Marilyn I remember, but that was 69 years ago so time does change things!!

I wrote a Face Book message to her, asking if she was the same person and she came back almost immediately saying she was.  I think this is soooo cool. 

She is currently in North Carolina, but will be home soon and we hope to get together sometime for lunch.  This is either going to be very awkward or a whole lot of fun.  I'll let you know!!  

GOT MY FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

So, the season is upon us.  Don’t get me wrong….I’m not talking about Spring!!  I’m talking about Opening Day Week for the MLB and for our grandsons’ high school baseball team.

I made it to their first game, which was at home and sadly, they lost1-3.  Neither of my grandsons got to play in the game.  The week prior they were in Florida for their spring break, therefore were not in town for their practice sessions, which automatically means you don’t get to play.  On top of that, Teddy has a break in his hand which will keep him out for another couple of weeks (he managed to drop a couch on it!!!) 

Turning now to the Cincinnati Reds….it is so much fun being a fan of this team!!  For most of the 20^th century the Reds held a special tradition of playing the first game of the MLB season.  This is because they are the first professional baseball team in the country. 

Their history dates back to 1869 (just post Civil War, WOW!!)  At that time, they were the first professional team named the Cincinnati Red Stockings. 

The franchise was officially founded in 1881 as a charter member of the American Association.  In 1882 they played their first season winning the league championship.  In 1890 the club joined the National League and shortened its name to the Cincinnati Reds. 

So, in honor of its history, The Reds have played the first game of the season at home nearly every year since 1900.  There were 3 exceptions:  1966 Philadelphia, 1990 Houston and 2022 Atlanta. 

The strict tradition of the Reds being the sole opening game faded in recent years due to international openers and scheduling changes, something that infuriated Marge Schott (owner at the time),

Whether we still hold that honor is almost a moot point, since no other team does Opening Day like Cincinnati!!!  It is a full day affair with TV coverage beginning early in the day, a huge parade at Noon, game time at 4:00 pm and hundreds, of thousands of fans flooding downtown.  There have been numerous attempts to make Opening Day an “official Cincinnati holiday”, meaning no school and folks off from work.  So far that hasn’t happened.   

Some of my earliest memories are all about baseball.  One of my favorites is how, after we moved to Florida in 1957, Dad used to listen to WLW radio for Reds games.  It was tough, given than WLW was almost 1000 miles away, back in Cincinnati.  Reception wasn’t very good at all, but Dad hung in there until the Tampa Rays came along.  But he still followed the Reds and always saw a game when he came to town for a visit.  

  

So, this past Thursday was Opening Day.  As usual there was nothing else on TV.  Unfortunately they played the Boston White Sox and lost that game, but won the series taking it 2 games won, 1 game lost. I have all the games on my phone calendar and we have subscribed to Reds-TV on MLB so we can watch all the games.  Got my fingers crossed it will be a winning season.

Oh For The Love Of Sports!!!

So, there’s been a bit of excitement here in southern Ohio for a while.  Not something I would expect national news to pick up, and if you’re not a sports fan, you wouldn’t be aware either.  And, honestly, as much of a sports fan as I am, basketball is pretty far down on my list. 

However, several weeks back the Miami RedHawks (as in Miami, Ohio) started to get a lot of local press coverage.  They had gone pretty far into their season without losing a game.  A few nights ago was their final game at home for the season, and they won that one!  Last night they played their final away game against Ohio University.

Pete and I were going to stay up as late as possible to watch (game started at 9pm, that’s our usual bedtime).  Unfortunately, for some reason I couldn’t login to ESPN.  So, this morning, as soon as I woke up, Pete let me know, they beat OU 110-108 in overtime.  Their season record 31-0!!!  Wow!!!  I need to mention here, that this was the first loss for OU, at home, in over 15 years!!!  (Heartbreak for them!!)

I pulled up game highlights and as far as I could see, there was never more than a 3-point spread throughout the game.  Miami won in the last 2 seconds of the game when they blocked a final basket effort.  So, congratulations Miami!!! Hope you have great success in the upcoming tournament.

Brought back memories, of course.  Of the four of us in my family, only Mom was an avid basketball fan.  This never registered with me until one time, on a visit home, Mom was watching a game and was more than a little engaged!!  Yelling, screaming, jumping up and down!!!  Who knew??  Not me!!!

Other basketball memories include a visit to a University of Florida (Gators) game.  I was maybe 11, 12….somewhere in there.  The only reason it has hung in there with me is that throughout the game the crowd was screaming “Gator Bait”, “Gator Bait”.  Not sure, but I think I was a little traumatized. 

Then there was the Dixie Hollins Rebels.  I never got to go to many of my high school games cause by that time I was working.  But I remember when my brother was a student there, they won state titles in 1960-61.

So, the sport has been around in the family, kinda, and I may be motivated to stay tuned to the upcoming tournament.   Miami plays  UMass in the MAC tournament this Thursday at 11AM.  Got to get my ESPN login fixed!!!!

Time Well Spent

It’s been a week and I’ve watched a whole lot of the Olympics.  I have apologized several times to Pete, since this is definitely not his thing.  He’s spent a lot of time this week on his computer working on his genealogy….I guess it’s a fair trade.

So, some comments regarding the Olympics…..

I’ve been a huge fan, all my life.  Now, at my senior age, I’ve noticed some things I probably didn’t pay attention to in the past.

First, ice skating, of all kinds, has really changed as far as I’m concerned.  I really don’t care for a lot of the music that the athletes chose to skate to.  Some of it is Rap, how do you skate to Rap?!! Another thing I noticed, across all forms of music, is that they throw their arms around a whole lot more than they perform with their feet.  Sorry, in my book that is not skating, even though technically it is. 

Too many hours on Curling and Cross Country Skiing.  That gets boring after 15 minutes.  Curling especially, cause in my case I don’t understand the game.  Karen tried to teach it to me a couple of times.  Actually, took me to her curling rink in Wisconsin and on the ice.  I did it, but never understood the rules of the game.  As far as I can tell, it’s a rather complicated game. 

Still love down hill skiing, snowboarding, all that stuff.  So exciting to watch except when they lift someone off the course by helicopter.

Also still love ski jumping, wish I could do it just once, to feel flying through the air that way, would be magical!!!

The TV stays on, even when I’m not in the room.  And I try to stay up later than usual, but I’m not good at that.  At some point the body just takes over, regardless of my intent.

We’ve got one more week to go.  Luckily, this is not a busy time of the year.  I get to sit in front of the TV as much as I want.  And then I’ll have to wait for the 2028 LA Summer Olympics.  That should be good!!!

THE 1980 MIRACLE

So…..the cold and snow I’ve been writing about for the last 2 weeks is still here and going strong.  Which means we haven’t been doing much.  Been watching a bunch of TV.

Saw an ad on TV this week for a new Netflix documentary titled “Miracle:  The Boys of 80”.  Major sports fans know immediately what this title is referring too.  And boy, did the ad unleash a boatload of memories for me. 

If you are not aware, in less than a week the Winter Olympics begin.  I have been a major Olympics fan for as long as I can remember.  Growing up in a sports orientated family sort of demands that addiction.  Have attended the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.   I always feel bad for my poor husband, Pete, since he is not as obsessed as I am (if at all) and he must suffer through 2 solid weeks of nothing but Olympics on the TV.

So, the ad brought back the memory of watching that 1980 US Hockey team beat the Russians in Lake Placid, NY on TV.  I was bouncing all over my apartment at the time, could not sit down at all as the game progressed.  And was screaming at the top of my lungs when the “Miracle” happened.  The US team was crushed earlier in the year by the Russians during an exhibit game prior to the Olympics.  No one thought the USA could beat the 4 times defending gold medalists.  But they did!!! 

A second memory was a few years later, driving to see my friend Diane in Maine.  During the drive up I spent the night in Lake Placid.  After dinner that night I saw a flyer for a hockey game and decided to go, having nothing else to do to kill the evening.  I have no memory of who was playing that night, but I found my way to the arena, bought a ticket, realized this was the same arena where the “Miracle” game was played, enjoyed the game and then was a little confused.  Everyone was getting up and leaving. 

I must admit, I didn’t know much about hockey, thought it was 4 quarters, rather than what was actually going on, the game is played to 3 periods.  It was over and I had no idea that it was time to leave!!!  Just a little embarrassing to admit. 

Today Pete and I watched the Netflix show and I have to say, in my opinion, it is an excellent documentary.  It shows the team members as they are today and did a great job retelling the story.  Both Pete and I had tissues for our eyes.  It is still a very emotional story. 

If you remember this 1980 victory, I guarantee you will love the show.  Have fun!!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!!!

It’s very rare for me to complain about the cold.  Having survived -60 in Fairbanks, it has to get really cold here in Ohio….but today….

For the past two weeks the only local news we’ve heard on TV is about this approaching storm and today, it arrives.  So, let’s see what happens.

Tonight (Saturday, 1/24) the snow is supposed to start falling and accumulate to maybe 8-10 inches by Monday morning.  If that happens, that is a very significant amount of snow for the Ohio Valley. 

We have prepared.  This past summer we purchased a Honda generator for the house.  Granted, the last time we needed a generator was in 2008 when Hurricane Ike roared through the Ohio Valley.  We lost power for 4 days and that was a royal pain.  We have a friend who brought his portable generator over every other day to keep our refrigerator cold.  No need for one since then.

But last night Pete went out and checked the battery on the used generator we bought from his brother, and that battery was dead.  So this AM we went out and purchased a new one.  The generator is now ready to go.

We bought a few groceries, but our house is pretty well stocked, so I’m not worried about the food situation. 

We have 2 neighbors with the equipment needed to clear the driveway, not that we’ll be able to go anywhere, but that’s nice to know.

So now we just sit and wait.  I’ve got two good books handy, so I’m good that way.  Tablet and phone are fully charged, so I’m good there. 

My last task for the day is to go out and feed the birds.  With that done, I’ll be all set to sit back and watch it snow. 

Don’t ya just love winter!!!!!

IN A HEARTBEAT

Had a pleasant, little Sunday morning surprise this morning.  Phone rang around 12 Noon and it was my friend Karen calling from Phoenix, AZ.

I’ve written about Karen and her husband Jack before.  Originally met them when I lived in Fairbanks.  Jack passed a few years ago and Karen and I have stayed in touch via a couple of phone calls each year, primarily by her calling me.  I need to get better about staying in touch.

We spent 50 minutes on the phone and after we hung up I spent a few minutes, just thinking about times long gone, by 50+ years.  So many memories.  

Memories of times I spent at their bush camp on the Tozitna River.  It’s those memories that not many folks get to have.  Being in the bush, totally removed from any civilization, a time before cell phones, the internet, all that stuff.  It was the best of my times in Alaska. 

There was the time we were walking a trail after dark and came across a headless rabbit.  That was a little freaky.  Fishing for our dinner.  Flying in from Fairbanks and landing on a gravel bar.  Bringing my Dad out for a visit and watching him just thrive in that environment.  Remembering when their son Robin was born in their 12x12 cabin on their kitchen table. 

Karen still has that land and it is now in the ownership of their son, and she’s watching their granddaughter roofing new buildings out there, along with many other activities that most 18-year-old girls don’t have as they head off to college. 

I’m pretty sure I’ll never travel that far north again, but if the opportunity should happen to come along, I’ll be there in a heartbeat!!